Paper-based composite bottle

ABSTRACT

A paper bottle includes a cap, a mouth, a body and a bottom. The mouth has a tube and a body top. The cap can be to seal the tube. The tube is made of biodegradable plastic. A top end of the body is closely connected with the body top. The body is consisted of two layers of paper-based composite paper. The two layers of paper-based composite paper are spirally wound to form a tubular structure. The bottom is made of wood-pulp paper and closely connected with a bottom end of the body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to beverage containers, particularly to paper-based composite bottle.

Related Art

The most common beverage containers in the market are plastic bottles (or PET bottles). The conventional plastic bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET bottles are widely manufactured in the world. However, PET bottles is not biodegradable, dealing with garbage of countless PET bottles becomes an important issue for most countries in the world.

To solve the environmental problem caused by plastic bottles, containers made of biodegradable material are introduced and used, such as containers from Tetra Pak Company. Basically, such a container is a sealed box consisted of paper, adhesive (polyethylene, PE) and aluminum foil. This Tetra Pak box is made by paper rolls, printing and hot pressing process. A common Tetra Pak box has seven layers: an aluminum foil layer (the innermost layer), a PE isolation film (the second layer), a paper layer (the third layer), the second PE isolation film, the second paper layer, the third PE isolation film and a color-printed film (the outermost layer). The seven-layered structure is folded into a box shape and the sealed. Such a box must be manufactured by many steps including hot pressing and cutting. It is complicated. Leakage may be caused by poor hot pressing.

The inventor/applicant has a Taiwan patent No. M565711, titled “stone paper container”. It is consisted of two layers of stone paper. Because stone paper inorganic filler (such as calcium carbonate, CaCO₃) and a plastic mixed material without conventional wood-pulp paper, it can reduce consumption of trees. Plastic contained in stone paper can adopt biodegradable organic plastic (such as aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyester, e.g. PLA, PBS, PBAT, etc.). It is biodegradable and recyclable, so it completely meets the concept of environment protection. However, such a pure stone paper structure cannot directly replace plastic bottles. The stone paper containers only can replace conventional paper cups as a primary application.

Because wood-pulp paper meets the concept of environment protection, the inventor utilizes her experiences and technology to provide a paper-based composite bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a paper-based composite bottle, which can be directly applied in beverage containers and is meets the requirements of environment protection and structural strength.

To accomplish the above object, the invention provides a paper-based composite bottle including:

a cap, being of a tubular shape with a closed end and an open end, and having a thread on an inner wall thereof;

a mouth, comprising a tube and a body top, wherein the body top has a first opening and a second opening, the first opening is less than the second opening in diameter, the tube is closely connected to the first opening, an end of the tube is formed with an annular flange, an outer surface of the tube except the flange is formed with a thread screwing with the cap, and a periphery of the first opening is provided with a connecting ring for connecting with the flange;

a body, consisted of at least two layers of paper-based composite paper, the at least two layers of paper-based composite paper comprising a first layer of paper and a second layer of paper, the at least two layers of paper-based composite paper being spirally wound and overlapping with each other to form a tubular structure, an inner side of the body being provided with a water-resistant film, a top end of the body being closely connected with the second opening, the first layer of paper and the second layer of paper forming an outermost layer and an inner layer of the body respectively; and

a bottom, made of wood-pulp paper, closely connected with a bottom end of the body to seal the body.

Preferably, the water-resistant film, the cap and the tube are made of biodegradable plastic.

Preferably, the body top is made of biodegradable plastic, native wood-pulp paper, recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper.

Preferably, the flange is located at a bottom end of the tube, the flange is closely connected with the connecting ring by adhesive or high frequency welding.

Preferably, the mouth further comprises a sealing ring and a fastener, the flange is located at a middle position of the tube, an outer surface of a lower portion of the tube is provided with a thread, the fastener is an annular body whose inner wall is threaded, the lower portion of the tube passes through the sealing ring and the first opening of the body top and is screwed with the fastener.

Preferably, the first layer of paper and the second layer of paper are made of native wood-pulp paper, recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper.

Preferably, the biodegradable plastic is polylactide (PLA).

Preferably, the body further comprises a layer of aluminum foil attached on the water-resistant film.

Preferably, the bottom comprises a bottom plate and a side wall around the bottom plate, and the side wall is closely connected with an inner side of the body.

Preferably, the side wall is closely connected with the inner side of the body by adhesive or high frequency welding.

The paper-based composite bottle of the invention is completely made of biodegradable material. The bottle body is formed by a tubular structure which is spirally wound by paper-based composite paper to guarantee sufficient structural strength. By the properties of recyclability and biodegradability of wood-pulp paper, the problem of environment protection resulting from plastic bottles can be solved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially schematic view of the invention, which shows two-layered structure of the body;

FIG. 4 is another partially schematic view of the invention, which shows a cross-section of two-layered structure of the body;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of the invention shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of still another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, the positional relationship, such as upper, lower, left and right, is based upon the directions in the figures if no particular indication.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, which are an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the invention and a cross-section view.

The paper-based composite bottle includes a cap 10, a mouth 20, a body 30 and a bottom 40. The cap 10 is a threaded cap. The cap 10 10 is of a tubular shape with a closed end and an open end and has a thread 11 on an inner wall thereof. The cap 10 is preferably made of biodegradable plastic.

The mouth 20 includes a tube 21 and a body top 22. The body top 22 has a first opening 221 and a second opening 222, which are separately located at two ends of the body top 22. Preferably, the body top 22 is hollow conic (funneled) or dish-shaped. The first opening 221 is less than the second opening 222 in diameter. The body top 22 may be made of biodegradable plastic, native wood-pulp paper, recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper. The first opening 221 is closely connected with the tube 21. The tube is preferably made of biodegradable plastic which is, but not limited to, polylactide (PLA). An end of the tube 21 is formed with an annular flange 23. An outer surface of the tube 21 except the flange 23 is formed with a thread 24 for screwing with the cap 10. A periphery of the first opening 221 is provided with a connecting ring 223. The connecting ring 223 is closely connected with the flange 23. Such a close connection may be adhesive or high frequency welding for liquid leakage resistance as shown in FIG. 2.

Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 6, which shows another preferred embodiment. This embodiment includes a tube 21, a sealing ring 25, a fastener 26 and a body top 22. This embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the flange 23A in this embodiment is located at the middle position of the tube 21. An outer surface of a lower portion of the tube 21 is provided with a thread 27. The fastener 26 is a substantially annular body whose inner wall is threaded. In other words, the fastener 26 is a nut. The lower portion of the tube 21 passes through the sealing ring 25 and the first opening 221 of the body top 22 and then is screwed with the fastener 26 by the thread 27 as shown in FIG. 6 so as to provide a mouth 20 with great structural strength and leakage resistance between the tube 21 and the first opening 221.

The body 30 is a spiral tubular structure formed by paper-based composite paper P as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. To guarantee enough structural strength, a top end of the body 30 is closely connected with the second opening 222 of the body top 22. Such a close connection may be adhesive or high frequency welding for liquid leakage resistance.

The bottom 40 is made of native or recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper. The bottom 40 is closely connected with a bottom end of the body 30 to seal the body 30. Preferably, the bottom 40 is of a cup shape formed by wood-pulp paper. The bottom 40 includes a bottom plate 41 and a side wall 41 around the bottom plate 41. The side wall 42 is closely connected with an inner side of the body 30. Such a close connection may be adhesive or high frequency welding for liquid leakage resistance. The native wood-pulp paper means paper made from logs. The recycled wood-pulp paper means paper made from recycled paper.

Preferably, the body 30 is a spiral tubular structure consisted of at least two layers of paper-based composite paper P. A preferred embodiment of the at least two layers of paper-based composite paper P as shown in FIG. 3 includes a first layer of paper 50 and a second layer of paper 60. Each of the first layer of paper 50 and the second layer of paper 60 is a strip. Lengths of short sides S of all the strips are the same. Lengths of long sides of the strips are not limited but enough to be wound to form the body 30. Each of the first layer of paper 50 and the second layer of paper 60 has a first side and a second side (for better understanding, letters A and B following a reference number of each layer of paper stand for the first side and the second side, for example, 50A stands for the first side of the first layer of paper 50, 60B stands for the second side of the second layer of paper 60, and so on). The long sides L of the first and second layers of paper are overlapped with each other as shown in FIG. 3. One second of widths of the short sides are adhered. In detail, a rear half of the short side of the second side 50B of the first layer of paper 50 is adhered onto a front half of the short side of the first side 60A of the second layer of paper 60.

The paper-based composite paper P is spirally wound and overlaps the first and second layers of paper 50, 60 to be adhered to each other to form the body 30 with at least a two-layered structure. An inner side of the body 30 is provided with a water-resistant film 81. Preferably, the water-resistant film 81 is made of biodegradable plastic material which is, but not limited to, polylactide (PLA). A top end of the body 30 is closely connected with the second opening 222 of the body top 22. The first layer of paper 50 and the second layer of paper 60 form an outermost layer and an inner layer of the body 30, respectively. Please refer to FIG. 4, a front half of width of the short side of the second side 50B of the first layer of paper 50 is adhered to a rear half of width of the short side of the first side 60A of the second layer of paper 60. With this winding manner, the body 30 has no gap. Also, the two-layered body 30 possesses sufficient structural strength.

The abovementioned embodiments show the two-layered paper-based composite paper P, but more layers overlapping or two sheets of two-layered paper are available. This can enhance structural strength of the body 30.

FIG. 7 depicts a body 30 with a three-layered structure. The three-layered structure includes a first layer of paper 50, a second layer of paper 60 and an aluminum foil 80. The aluminum foil 80 is attached on the water-resistant film 81 as an inner surface of the body 30 to provide a function UV-cut.

The paper-based composite bottle of the invention is completely made of biodegradable material. The bottle body is formed by a tubular structure which is spirally wound by paper-based composite paper to guarantee sufficient structural strength. By the properties of water resistance and plasticity of wood-pulp paper, the bottle body can be formed with a neck or a required shape. Advantages of easy manufacture and changeful design can be obtained.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper-based composite bottle comprising: a cap, being of a tubular shape with a closed end and an open end, and having a thread on an inner wall thereof; a mouth, comprising a tube and a body top, wherein the body top has a first opening and a second opening, the first opening is less than the second opening in diameter, the tube is closely connected to the first opening, an end of the tube is formed with an annular flange, an outer surface of the tube except the flange is formed with a thread screwing with the cap, and a periphery of the first opening is provided with a connecting ring for connecting with the flange; a body, consisted of at least two layers of paper-based composite paper, the at least two layers of paper-based composite paper comprising a first layer of paper and a second layer of paper, the at least two layers of paper-based composite paper being spirally wound and overlapping with each other to form a tubular structure, an inner side of the body being provided with a water-resistant film, a top end of the body being closely connected with the second opening, the first layer of paper and the second layer of paper forming an outermost layer and an inner layer of the body respectively; and a bottom, made of wood-pulp paper, closely connected with a bottom end of the body to seal the body.
 2. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the body top is made of biodegradable plastic, native wood-pulp paper, recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper.
 3. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 2, wherein the biodegradable plastic is polylactide (PLA).
 4. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the water-resistant film is polylactide (PLA).
 5. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the flange is located at a bottom end of the tube, and the flange is closely connected with the connecting ring.
 6. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the mouth further comprises a sealing ring and a fastener, the flange is located at a middle position of the tube, an outer surface of a lower portion of the tube is provided with a thread, the fastener is an annular body whose inner wall is threaded, the lower portion of the tube passes through the sealing ring and the first opening of the body top and is screwed with the fastener.
 7. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the first layer of paper and the second layer of paper are made of native wood-pulp paper, recycled wood-pulp paper, bamboo fiber paper or straw-pulp paper.
 8. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises a layer of aluminum foil attached on the water-resistant film.
 9. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the bottom comprises a bottom plate and a side wall around the bottom plate, and the side wall is closely connected with an inner side of the body.
 10. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 9, wherein the side wall is closely connected with the inner side of the body by adhesive or high frequency welding.
 11. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the cap and the tube are made of biodegradable plastic.
 12. The paper-based composite bottle of claim 1, wherein the body top is an independent piece. 